183. Does Free Will Exist, and Does It Matter?

Feb 18, 2024

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Does anyone have any real agency? What do McDonald’s and Oxford University have in common? And why did Angela give up on philosophy?

SOURCES
- Sam Harris, neuroscientist, philosopher, author, and podcast host.
- Brian Galla, associate professor of health and human development at University of Pittsburgh.
- Robert Sapolsky, professor of biology at Stanford University.
- Harry Emerson Fosdick, founding minister of Riverside Church in New York City.
- Martin E. P. Seligman, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Brian Kershisnik, American painter.
- Plato, ancient Greek philosopher.

RESOURCES
- Free Will, by Sam Harris (2012).
- Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will, by Robert Sapolsky (2023).
- “Free Will Beliefs Predict Attitudes Toward Unethical Behavior and Criminal Punishment,” by Nathan D. Martin, Davide Rigoni, and Kathleen D. Vohs (PNAS, 2017).
- “Learned Helplessness: Theory and Evidence,” by Steven F. Maier and Martin E. P. Seligman (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1976).
- “Failure to Escape Traumatic Shock,” by Martin E. P. Seligman and Steven F. Maier (Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1967).

EXTRAS
- “Final Thoughts on Free Will” by Making Sense with Sam Harris (2021).
- “Sam Harris: ‘Spirituality is a Loaded Term’” by People I Mostly Admire (2021).

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